Joker in the Deck
by UberNimrod
Summary: Negi has botched a dimension-hopping spell, and finds himself nowhere near home. All three factions are very interested in this young man that is determined to not join any of them. Will Negi return home? Will any of the girls want him to return home? Find out inside.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I do not own Negima or High School DxD. For that matter, I technically do not own this story either.

This story was originally called "The Wildcard" and was written by kroz phantomville here on . Real Life however, decided to interfere with his storytelling, and thus he decided to put the story up for adoption. Since I enjoyed the story he had started, I decided to adopt it and asked permission to do so.

That was several months ago. He was quicker to respond in the affirmative than I have been in rewriting the story. I've been slow to write this only because I have two large projects I am working on already. If you've read my profile, you can already guess what those two projects are.

So why add this to my workload? Because I liked it enough to ask permission to write this my own way.

Reviews encourage me to keep writing. So please read and review.

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Chapter 1

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God of Lighting Meets Dragon of Dragons.

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"Drat."

Negi Springfield looked around. He was floating someplace alien to him. It was completely devoid of anything except color. Every color from the darkest reds all the way to shades of violet swirled around him. Nothing existed to serve as an indicator of where he was.

"Where am I?" he muttered aloud.

He looked around again, trying to focus his vision on anything that he could see. After a moment, he gave up the search, closed his eyes and tried to think.

He had been testing a new spell he created that would allow for instant travel from Mundus Magicus to Mundus Vetus. Instead of using the gates between the two realms, which took up far too much time in his opinion, the spell would use trans-dimensional dislocation to allow a mage in one realm to 'step' through to a location of his choosing in the other realm. He had obviously messed up in his calculations and was now struck in this place.

Negi sighed and tried to extend his senses outward. He kept his eyes shut so that he would not rely on vision alone. Especially since that vision was shaping up to appear as if he was trapped inside some sort of lava lamp.

After a moment, Negi felt a presence behind him. He willed his body to turn and opened his eyes.

A dragon floated before him. He couldn't tell it's size as there was nothing nearby to use for comparison, but it appeared to be quite large, if he had to guess. Its scales were the color of rust, which told him that it wasn't a newborn dragon at any rate.

The other indication that told Negi that this wasn't a newborn dragon was it's presence. This dragon exuded power and authority. This was it's realm, Negi realized, and he was intruding in it. This dragon could fight with him if it wanted, and perhaps even overpower him.

For the first time in ages, Negi was excited. He had fought the Lifemaker three times before his arrival here in this place, and each time felt the exhilaration of the fight. He had not needed to fight in a long time, as his powers had never diminished. Most of the fights he had involved himself in were more political than physical, and he missed the act of physical combat.

Negi fought to keep his excitement from reaching his face as he greeted the dragon before him, "Hello?"

The greeting came out more questioning than he would have liked, but if that annoyed the dragon, it did not show on his face, "What are you doing in this place, brat?"

"If I knew how I arrived here in this place, I would tell you. I am Negi Springfield," Negi bowed, "Who are you, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"I am called Great Red among other names. Though what are you anyway? You seem like a human yet you are not. Neither are you a devil, angel, fallen angel or any matter of being I know of." The dragon narrowed his eyes as he continued to speak, "You feel more like a spirit of darkness than anything else."

"The description is near enough, though I am a vampire shinso," Negi replied. He was surprised that the dragon was able to tell his true nature. Negi appeared to be a young man fresh from high school or college, but he was something else. Great Red calling him a spirit of darkness was a close description but not exact. He was confused about the mention of angels and devils though.

Great Red snorted before replying, "Vampire? You are no vampire, brat. You are easily as powerful as those annoying red and white dragons, if not more."

That settled it for Negi. It was obvious to him that he wasn't in his native realm, though whether he was in another dimension parallel to his own or another universe entirely remained to be seen. All he knew was that he might not be able to go home again.

That realization, combined with the answers he was being given, made Negi feel frustrated, "Dragons? Devils? Do forgive me, but I do not even know where I am. Could you please tell me that much?"

Great Red snorted once more,"If you don't know, you can forget about it. I don't feel like answering your questions." The dragon dismissed him and turned to leave.

Frustration turned to annoyance as Negi watched Great Red turn from him. He had finally found an equal to himself in power, strength and ability. Now he was in danger of losing that equal. He hesitated on what to do.

Fortunately, he carried a being with him that wasn't known for hesitation or subtlety at all. "Fight him, Master! Show him what you're made of!" came the battle cry from his inner coat pocket.

Great Red turned around and observed him with renewed interest, "You keep surprising me boy. But do you seriously intend to fight me?"

Negi stared at him before replying, "I am a stranger to this place. Where I come from, both in the land of my birth and in the land of my training, it was accepted that being polite to strangers was proper. I have tried to treat you with respect equal to the presence that I can feel from you. This is obviously your realm, and you do not wish to be disturbed. As you have not wished to reciprocate my kindness and respect, perhaps force will get your attention." Negi crossed his arms before resuming, "However, I am not eager to fight. I fight only if there is a good cause, or if my friends or family are threatened."

The dragon seemed to grin, "To fearlessly challenge me. Diplomacy, but with the hint of Force, as well as the will to use that Force if necessary. Though your magic itself is different than any I have ever witnessed." The grin widened as Great Red continued, "Fine then, brat. Come at me. I have not fought in ages because I have not found a worthy opponent. Let us see how long you last against me. If you last long enough to amuse me, then I shall tell you everything you wish to know."

An enormous red aura of power exploded from the dragon and collected into a ball at the tip of its horn. Wordlessly, Negi summoned a ball of lightning in each hand before absorbing them into himself, transforming him into his Constant Lightning form. Again silently, he summoned a spear of lightning. The spear was the same size as Great Red's ball.

Both Negi and Great Red nodded to each other before loosing their attacks.

The spear of lighting met the red ball of destruction.

The realm exploded into blinding light.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: I do not own Negima or High School DxD. For that matter, I technically do not own this story either.

This story was originally called "The Wildcard" and was written by kroz phantomville here on . Real Life however, decided to interfere with his storytelling, and thus he decided to put the story up for adoption. Since I enjoyed the story he had started, I decided to adopt it and asked permission to do so.

Please note that I have changed a few details from the original "The Wildcard," although I have tried to keep the spirit of the story intact.

Reviews encourage me to keep writing. No, really. They do.

Especially as I got more visitors, views, and reviews in **ONE DAY** than I do over a month when I post something under my Negima fics. Thank you one and all for that. It really surprised me when I saw the statistics after just 12 hours after posting the first chapter. I have been surprised this past month at all of the reviews and views of this story so far.

I know all of you are eager for me to update this as quickly as possible. Let me say that I will keep writing this. But the pace of my writing will likely upset most of you, as I have a full-time job that is extremely demanding of my time. I can only write so much before I need to drive or rest. It is annoying, but I hope all of you will have patience with me.

Please read and review. I can't improve as a writer if I don't know I am making mistakes.

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Chapter 2

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The Things I Do...

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Great Red explained everything that he knew of this universe to me. From the Dimensional Gap that was his home to general details of Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, and the Great War before finishing up with a short lecture about Dragons. Earth was still Earth, but there were significant differences. Even the nature of Magic was different here.

It is a good thing that I have a very good memory. Even so, I was beginning to be overwhelmed by this much information. Although he surprised me with a question of his own as I sorted my thoughts.

"Would you do this world a favor?"

I glanced up at him, "What sort of favor?"

"I mentioned two annoying dragons before we fought. They will be returning to the world soon. It would be a good thing if those two did not fight each other. The world would suffer greatly if they did."

"Well..."

"I know you wish to return home. This will keep you occupied until you find a way to do so."

I chuckled, "I suppose I should return home, but I am not in any hurry to do so. I am reclusive enough that I doubt that anyone will miss me for some time." I nodded to Great Red then, "But I will try. What do I need to look for?"

Before he could explain what I needed to know, a voice came from inside my jacket, "But I want to see a fight!"

I sighed and opened my coat. "Not now Zero," I said.

"Blood makes the grass grow! Kill! Kill! Kill!" came the reply from Chachazero as she looked up at me.

"In case you haven't noticed, there is no grass here in the Dimensional Gap."

"So spill some blood so there will be grass to grow," Chachazero said to him.

"What a vicious creature," Great Red said as he tried to peer at the doll hidden in my jacket. "Why do you have such a thing?"

"She served my master for centuries before she was given to me. I am currently trying to reform her," I said as I covered her up again, leaching some of the magic I had given to her as I did so. I had brought her along in case something had happened to me when I tried the spell. Perhaps not the best of ideas, but my logic was that if something could hurt me, it would likely not hurt Zero. I doubted her ability to go and find help for me if I was indeed incapacitated, as she might well go start slaughtering anything and everything she could find, but I didn't have any other alternatives in the matter.

Now that Zero had not enough energy to be rambunctious, I patted my jacket where I knew Zero's head was before resuming, "When my master created her, she was becoming the most feared mage of my worlds. She fought in many battles with Chachazero here, and as such Zero grew to enjoy bloodshed. Even after my master stopped fighting, the bloodlust within Zero remained. I've spent considerable time trying to reform her, but I have not given up."

Great Red stared at me for a moment before asking, "Worlds?"

"Humanity has colonized the solar system and beyond. Mars has been fully terraformed and is a thriving colony independent from Earth. Venus is proving to be problematic to terraform, but that is only a question of time. There are quite a few bases in the asteroid belt, and several colonies in the outer solar system. Humans have also managed to expand outward from the solar system, with the invention of a faster-than-light drive." I was a little proud of that, considering that it had been one of my greater accomplishments in the mundane world. It was one of the few things I could be openly proud of anyway. Everything else I had to keep secret for so long that few outside the magical community knew of them.

Great Red seemed to accept what I said easily enough. He asked, "You said she served your master for centuries. How long have you spent trying to reform her?"

A small chuckle escaped my lips before I answered, "Four centuries so far. Give or take a decade."

"And how long are you prepared to keep reforming her?"

"As long as it takes."

Great Red chuckled. "I see. You are committed to your goals. But how are you prepared to deal with others interfering with your goals?" he asked.

"I prepare as I need to," I replied easily. I did not see the need to tell him of how many times that others, either through malice or ignorance, had tried to keep me from my goals. There was no point in telling him all of the occasions that my dreams came close to dying. Even some of those I had fought tooth and nail that I thought I had swayed to my cause turned on both me and my dreams. Evangeline had left Mahora to live a quiet life before returning, with my grandson no less, to lead an organization of immortals. I don't even want to think about what Fate did, even though I could not bring myself to hate him. I gazed at Great Red's eyes and resumed speaking, "I accept that I may well have to fight for what I want, but I also have said that I am not eager to fight. I prefer Diplomacy over Force any day."

"So you did say. Yet you have proven you can fight if you must. Fine then."

After explaining what I needed to know, Great Red nudged me out of the Gap so that I could start working on returning to my world, as well as what he had asked of me. It was going to be difficult, but I had the time since I was immortal myself.

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><p>It took me two weeks to acquire proper identification papers from London. Mostly because of the bureaucratic runaround, although trying to get one form of identification without having any other form of identification was a nuisance by itself that I wish never to repeat. I had to lie entirely too many times by stating that all of my papers and passport had been stolen. It was another month to acquire a diploma from Oxford. Much less lying was involved there, but there was entirely too many tests to prove that I could be a teacher. Again, mostly because of the bureaucratic runaround.<p>

Two weeks after I had diploma in hand I found a small manufacturing business that could produce something to profit both them and myself. I needed some form of income to purchase what I needed. I might well have been able to afford golden toilet seats encrusted with diamonds in my universe, but I did not need that there or here. I have never been an extravagant person, so my spending needs were less than average. Oddly enough, I didn't really need to eat much, but it would be something related to food that would help keep me from starving.

It was being marketed as "a new container for a new millennium." I understood the chemistry needed to make the containers, but I knew the process itself was time-consuming and required specialized equipment to make containers that would help keep food fresh for much longer than normal. The business I approached with the proposal had most of the equipment already in place, admittedly smaller in scale than what I remembered from my own world. They saw what I proposed, and jumped at the chance to make the advanced containers.

Having secured a source of income, I set to work establishing myself in this world. I needed almost six months to arrange matters so that I could be prepared for any unpleasant surprises.

A modest home, built to withstand tornados and typhoons, then reinforced with magic to withstand a siege. Emergency supplies for several people for several weeks. Redundant systems for septic and water. An escape tunnel for when everything failed. The construction crew that built most everything thought I was insane until they saw how easily I paid for their materials lists and their labors. After that, they merely thought I was eccentric.

I'm not sure why I bothered to build a fortress. I'm all but unkillable, but I also realize that I attract trouble. I figure the house ought to be able to protect those with me while I fend off whatever is trying to attack me.

Three days after the house was finished, I was in the office of the headmaster of Kuoh Academy being interviewed for the position of teacher. Great Red had suggested that I join the staff here at the Academy, as there was a concentration of devils there. He believed that if anything bad was going to happen, it would start at or near the school.

Over the course of my long life I was a teacher many times. I had taught subjects ranging from English to Complex Magical Theory, to students in middle school up to university level. Each time, the students under my care came to respect both me and each other. It was an accomplishment that few teachers achieve, one that I was proud of.

Once I was officially a teacher at Kuoh Academy, I was an instant hit among the students. Even though my appearance suggested that I was barely older than them, they saw fit to tell all their problems to me. Since I took all my teacher positions very seriously, I became an unofficial guidance councilor and tried to solve as many problems as I could. A habit that I kept from my Mahora days. It was apparently the wrong thing to do as my office quickly became crowded with students. Unfortunately for me, the administration noticed that quickly and decided to not only encourage me to become an official guidance councilor, with pay to match, but I was also given some of the tougher cases that had the regular councilors pulling their hair out.

Which is how I met Hyodo Issei.

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><p>Author Notes<p>

I suppose I better let everyone know that I do fully intend to continue this story. I just have both _A Stultus Pulchram Story_ and _Raising Negi_ to work on as well. This does not include RARR projects that may pop into my head or my two projects that I wanted to work on this year: _The Meeting_ and _Chigusa's New Minions_.

I post things here on the first of the month. It is a deadline that helps me keep focused on writing. Even if what I am working on changes every so often. If I get blocked while working on a story, I switch to a different story. This explains my erratic updating of certain stories.

The chapters will become longer the more I work on this. I know I suffer from brevity. I apologize for that, since I guess everyone enjoys reading long chapters.

If you have read my profile, then you know that I am a truck driver by trade. It pays my bills, but the work is demanding. I have to plan everything around driving. Eating, sleeping, and writing are secondary to my job, as I literally live in my truck. I am only at my house once a week.

Please accept that I will update this story as often as I can, but it will take time for me to craft a story that you will enjoy reading. I just hope that my writing will be worth the wait.


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